


Know You By Heart

by Grimmseye, pepgold



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon-Typical Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Roleswap, but cute is both trying to kill you and trying to steal your shoes, eighth bird kravitz, meet cute, original art included, reaper taako, reclaimer kravitz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 21:06:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17495378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimmseye/pseuds/Grimmseye, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepgold/pseuds/pepgold
Summary: He clears his throat. "Excuse me, dove?" He calls, and he blinks a little at the term that came to his lips. Why on earth would he call this stranger such a thing? He shakes it off, continuing with, "Could I get your name? Not introducing yourself is just plain rude!"And then, because Kravitz plays dirty, aray of frostsprings from the tip of his wand and towards the Reaper."It's Taako," the elf huffs, and turns, and his ears twitch down as he sees the spell heading for him.Taako.His chest feels full. His heart feels heavy.





	Know You By Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER RP BETWEEN GRIMM AND I, edited for your consumption
> 
> this chapter is the shortest one! i hope.. you enjoy it!!
> 
> (turns out editing an rp into something intelligible without a million pov changes is very hard and grimm is a fucking saint for doing all the work with fmk, we'll see how long i last on this without asking for help LAUGHS)
> 
> xoxo pls enjoy

It turns out that wizardry? Is kind of dope.  
  
His hands still buzz with the force of his last spell — he'd burned through the slots a bit carelessly, admittedly, but all things considered it _looked_ like they were in final boss territory. Evil drow, big spider, Kravitz knows how these things work. He's seen enough dramas.  
  
The wand, admittedly, is pretty awkward-feeling. Too small, and he doesn't know what to do with his other hand. A staff may have suited him better, beyond the price tag. His coin purse is home to a hungry soul, tormented by the emptiness of its depths.  
  
A steady click and _whoosh_ behind him makes Kravitz's eye twitch. His ears turn downward, short points folded in displeasure as he turns his sneer over his shoulder with a, "Do you _mind?"_  
  
The sounds pauses, Merle glancing over his shoulder with raised brows. He's still dicking around with that fucking _umbrella._ Kravitz doesn't like it one bit — gives him the heebie jeebies. The dwarf can keep it, but only if he stays _quiet._  
  
Which he doesn't. Of course. Merle shrugs and unfolds the umbrella again, as though that's gonna reveal some secret about it. It's just a _staff,_ for the love of the — the — the gods. Magnus, on the other hand, looks unperturbed, whittling away at some hunk of wood. It makes Kravitz's fingers itch, reaching instinctively for his fiddle before he stills his hands. _Wizard,_ he reminds himself, and dejectedly reaches for his wand instead.  
  
"Merle, don't look!" Magnus crows. "Kravitz is studying his cantrips!"  
  
_"Gross,"_ Merle chuckles, and Kravitz grits his teeth and growls. The sooner Gundren — or, hell, that orc lady — gets back here to let them forward, the better. He's eager to be done with this job.

Kravitz almost wants to put his wand away because fuck them, he _is_ practicing his cantrips. That's how you get _better_ at _magic._ He huffs, rolling through his usual motions of prestidigitation. In the end, Kravitz's wandwork looks like he's flicking a baton, but it does the trick. Sparks shower harmlessly from his wand. A low, whistling sound emits on the next flick.  
  
His eyes shift to Magnus. A grin plays across his face, a casual whistle pursed between his lips as he flicks his wand towards the burly man.  
  
Magnus leaps to his feet with a shout. His hands go to the back of his neck, where Kravitz had conjured a distinct _crawling_ sensation, the man now biting his lip to hold back a laugh as he watches Magnus flail until he trips over his own feet, staggering across the cave floor and crying out, "Get it off me, kill it!"

It’s all fun and games until Kravitz catches sight of movement where there should be none, and not just a little of it.

There’s some kind of sparking, spinning blade on the other side of the pit, and an elf in all black attached to it. Kravitz is transfixed as the elf grins and shouts, "Hey, _fuckos,_ ready to go to death jail for your hell crimes??"  
  
Killian shouts up from the pit, "Hey guys?? Could you chill for just, like, one minute?" The elf peers down, like he hadn’t realized she was down there, but looks unbothered.

The cave freezes. Kravitz tears his eyes away from Magnus as Magnus halts and turns. Merle shuts his umbrella with a distinct _fwip!_  
  
There's a beat. Then Merle says, a stage whisper across the cave, _"Guys. I think the spider guy had a brother."_  
  
"They _do_ have similar inflections," Kravitz muses, "but the accent is off. Brian _vas a bit closer to zis!"_ The scythe is new, though. There's a respectable _flair_ to it, Kravitz would be pretty into it if he weren't trying to gauge this guy's intentions. "Also I don't think they're related, Brian was a drow."  
  
"They could be adopted," Magnus points out. He's got his axe in his grip, face hardening into a darker look. It's impressive, really, how quickly he goes from puppy-dog to a snarling beast. Kravitz figures he should take the cue, slowly rising to his feet, one hand grasping the neck of his violin.  
  
"Hm. Okay. Well, we're very sorry about your brother," Kravitz tries. "In our defense, he tried to kill us. Also, my compatriot here," he gestures to Magnus, "was the one who actually kicked him into the pit, if you want any help deciding who should first receive your retribution."

The elf pauses, fingers tightening around his scythe as it slows to a stop. He takes a step to one side of the pit.  
  
"Brian sounds like a... fun guy. Rip. I'll check him out in spooksville later, but he's not my _brother._ I fly _solo,_ my dudes _._ " Kravitz almost smiles as the guy puffs his chest up. Points for showmanship, even if it’s not terribly convincing.

"That said, I'll totally go for your compatriot first. Less for the death crimes, more for the general grooming and shit he's barely managing with those- those _things."_ The elf gestures to the side of his face to indicate _massive sideburns._ And then sticks his thumb down and his tongue out.

Kravitz laughs, but Magnus straightens up at that, an indignant _"Hey!"_ on his lips. "I take good care of my sideburns, _thank you_ very much. They just grow fast."  
  
"So I'm not really clear on the crimes thing," Kravitz says. "I mean. Murder. That's definitely a crime, but _again,_ it was self defense." He realizes too late that he should have grabbed his wand, not his violin. Only one slot left — he makes a snap decision and tucks the instrument between his shoulder and his jaw, bowing a low, reverberating note with his eyes fixed upon their visitor. He climbs the strings, pealing into a near shriek at his highest note and hoping this freak doesn't have good charisma as he casts a simple Bane spell upon him.  
  
"Oh we spend _all day_ asking you to play for us, and _now_ you wanna," Merle huffs.  
  
"It's our swan song," Kravitz drawls,  but the bickering cuts off as Magnus seems to decide he's done waiting. The man rushes towards the elf, axe hefted to take a swing at his torso.

The elf - the _Reaper_ \- narrowly avoids the spell, flinching as the sound passes through. The axe is still coming, though, and as the elf tries to dance out of the way, it grazes his side. He hisses in pain, "Okay, fuck, _okay_ , I'll tell y'all your real crimes real quick, I guess. Which one of you dicks is Merle? Because he's got the others beat on number of _deaths_ . If you die, you gotta stay dead, dudes! And you all _deffo_ died!! Fuck!" He takes off as he’s yelling, darting away from Magnus with his scythe clutched in one hand and his bleeding hip clutched in the other.

"That's me!" Merle announces immediately, so Kravitz turns his automatic point into tucking a lock behind his shoulder.  
  
Killian is beginning to rise from the pit, yelling a, "Who the _hell_ is trying to kill us, now?"  
  
The elf shrieks back, "No, lady, you're fine, it's just these boys!!"  
  
"Sorry, did you say we _died?"_ Kravitz calls, because Magnus is still advancing on this guy. It would be pretty easy to take a shot at him. Something about that doesn't feel right, though. Kravitz isn't exactly the violent sort, but he's picked a few fights and is fine with the consequences. He's _hardly_ a pacifist, and retaliating against some hooligan who appeared in their cave isn't outside his moral boundaries whatsoever.  
  
When he looks at the elf, though, there's a sensation like a stone has been dropped into his chest. A weight, almost, and something else, something that catches his breath.  
  
"Any help?" Magnus asks, spinning his axe to try to knock the elf off balance. "Like, literally _any_ backup from my good adventuring pals?"  
  
"...Right," Kravitz says, trying to shove down the cold reluctance in his bones. He balances both his violin and his bow in one hand, the other finding his wand. Certain spells come easier to him than others — thunder is by far his most familiar tool, but _cold_ comes willingly, too.  
  
He clears his throat. "Excuse me, dove?" He calls, and he blinks a little at the term that came to his lips. Why on earth would he call this stranger such a thing? He shakes it off, continuing with, "Could I get your name? Not introducing yourself is just plain rude!"  
  
And then, because Kravitz plays dirty, a ray of frost springs from the tip of his wand and towards the Reaper.

"It's Taako," the elf huffs, and turns, and his ears twitch down as he sees the spell heading for him.  
  
_Taako._  
  
His chest feels full. His heart feels heavy.  
  
Taako holds his scythe out, like it could block Kravitz’s spell. It barely seems to work, and leaves him wide open for the axe, which catches the handle of his weapon by chance alone. _"Fuck,"_ he yells emphatically, and tries to knock the blade away. His tail lashes under his cloak, "And anyway, I'm not a dove these days!! Ravens all the way or whatever!"  
  
Kravitz winces when Magnus catches Taako with his axe, though his ears _do_ perk at the mention of ravens. "Magnus, hold on a moment," he says, and the man pauses, gripping his axe, a dubious look flickering between Kravitz and their attacker.  
  
He hasn't made a scratch on _anyone,_ and Kravitz really is starting to feel bad. "But, but, hey,  handsome? Totally died, but only like. Ten times. Like, babe? Compared to the others, you're doing amazing. Still suuuper illegal, though!"  
  
"Listen, I _don't_ believe I've died at any point," Kravitz says. It _feels_ bad just to be accused of that sort of thing. He may be picking up levels in wizardry, but _necromancy_ has never been in the question. "Can't speak for these hooligans, they wouldn't surprise me if they've died at some point —"  
  
"Eh, fair," Merle shrugs, and Magnus gives a laugh as he spins his axe in his grip. Then the cave lights up, Magnus yelping and diving out of the way to avoid a flare of holy flame from Merle's bible as they scorch past him and towards Taako.  
  
"But regardless," Kravitz says, still awkwardly clutching his instrument in one hand. His voice is laced with magic as he sneers at the elf, "I don't know why you're still harassing us! You haven't landed a single hit, it's like watching a crow pull on a hawk's tail feathers, only crows are smart enough to not get themselves killed!"

He watches Taako’s skin begin to blister with the holy spell, and wishes the guy would just _leave_ . He’s clearly not made for taking hits!  
  
Taako's prone, wiping blood from his lips. The holy spell must’ve hurt more than just his skin. He coughs, "Okay. Yeah, no, fuck. I'm leaving, shit. I mean... I'll be back, I guess, because it's my job, but." His ears keep flicking, like they can’t settle, "Regardless, death'll get y'all in the end. If you kill me, I'll just get to be a super cool, like... mega-Reaper or some shit, so. Got that to look forward to, I guess!"  
  
Kravitz is more than happy to lower his wand once the Reaper appears to surrender. It doesn't sit well with him, seeing just how severely Merle's casting damaged him.  
  
He reaches for this scythe and barely angles it toward the ground, "So I know _Merle_ , now, and he sucks. I'm guessing Sideburns is Burnsides, which makes you... _Kravitz_ , right? Handsome fella with the multiclassing?" He coughs, dragging his blade across the ground and edging toward the hole it leaves, "Anyway, uh, don't die anymore until I come back to kill you!"  
  
Taako blows a kind of gruesome-looking kiss at Kravitz and waves.

Kravitz winces at the blown kiss, only stepping back. "I wouldn't recommend you come back soon," he says, gesturing to Taako's _everything._  
  
"Wait, are we just gonna let him _go?"_ Merle whines.  
  
"It's not like he actually did anything," Magnus shrugs, and Kravitz watches the Reaper back through the... portal? That he'd cut open.  
  
And then he can't seem to get him out of his head. That Reaper. He's pretty, at least before he got bloody,  and Kravitz _knows_ he's a sucker for pretty. But he doesn't think he's so bad that a near-stranger who attacked them, spouted some nonsense, got his ass kicked and then _ran_ should stick in his mind so thoroughly.  
  
Pretty quickly, though, Taako is far out of his mind — he's too focused on the vault they open and the gauntlet inside and Gundren's rage that manifests as flame, boring into the ground and obliterating everything, everyone, while Kravitz huddles at the bottom of a well with his two companions and an unconscious orc woman, still mourning a man named Barry and not entirely certain _why._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thank you to grimm for letting me mangle our significantly more complicated second canon-based work,
> 
> and also thank you to everyone who's enjoying and commenting on FMK! it really motivated me to try and put more content out again, hehe
> 
> have a lovely day!!

**Author's Note:**

> (as always - you can find us on tumblr (pepgold) and (grimmseye) - among other places, i'm sure, lol)


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